Where The Newspaper Stands

October 11, 2004

Crossing over

You can wait for the highways, or avoid the whole mess

Now there are two.

A second company -- Fluor Virginia -- has submitted a proposal for a third crossing of Hampton Roads. The first was submitted in June by Skanska/Washington/ BAM. The two plans differ in timing and financing but are alike in the road network that would be built.

Fluor's offer includes several financing options, one of which would be based entirely on tolls -- a telling point given that the state of Virginia is running out of money for highway construction.

What's most welcome is that there are actually two private companies that think it's possible to build a third crossing, and that they can make money doing it. In the absence of private-sector interest, it would be hard to imagine the political will to push the project forward given the failure of the 2002 road-funding referendum, the problems that have plagued the Virginia Department of Transportation and the budgetary struggles that tend to turn the General Assembly into one big legislative traffic jam.

But advocates of improving the transportation network in Hampton Roads have a huge advantage: awful traffic.

Whether caused by driver error (that's being euphemistic) or equipment failure or simply too many people trying to be on the same pavement at the same time, life on the area's highways is going to get worse and worse. And sooner or later, the politicians will have to do something about it.

Recall the three-hour, 10-mile backup on Interstate 64 westbound on Sept. 30, caused by a leaking pipe in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Recall the two-hour, three-mile backup on I-64 westbound at Mercury Boulevard on Sept. 22, caused by a driver pulling into westbound traffic, flipping a tractor-trailer.

Recall the (fill in the blank with your personal favorite).

This is the stuff of everyday life on the region's major arteries. Time and money go out the exhaust pipe (along with the additional pollution spewed into the air by the massive number of cars and trucks stuck in traffic because, for example, somebody from Pennsylvania wrongly thought that he could make it to Virginia Beach without stopping one more time for gasoline).

A big part of the "something" that must be done is a third crossing of Hampton Roads, which is essential for the health of the region. But the earliest possible completion date is said to be December 2010, and that seems, shall we say, improbable. So even if the transportation and legislative bureaucracies move ahead with all deliberate speed, we're going to be stuck here for a while.

What to do?

One enterprising fellow, as Daily Press staff writer April Taylor reported last week, bought an airplane and drives to work through the sky rather than along the highway. An interesting choice, but definitely not for everyone.

Another trend is at work, too. The "uncommute." Consider this: The Virginian-Pilot reports that residential development in Norfolk is exploding -- more than $1 billion in private investment aimed at housing in the past 41/2 years. One real estate broker said, "Anywhere we stuff houses, people are willing to pay $300,000 or more for them."

That $300,000 is about triple the median home values in Hampton and Newport News. But what's this? Two developers have announced plans for upscale condominiums in downtown Hampton, with a target price of a half-million dollars. And a private developer wants to build homes and condos in the East End of Newport News, with prices ranging from $250,000 to $600,000.

Maybe what the real estate market has helped create -- suburban sprawl and long commutes and congested highways -- it will help undo. A healthy urban residential market will boost the tax base of cities and, perhaps, keep people off the highway. It's true we can't build our way out of our transportation problems -- not if we view the "build" part only as it applies to highways. But broaden the notion to include changes in where people live, and the highway of life might become more promising. *

Fall

Chilly nights signal an ending and a beginning

The recent cooler days -- and, especially, nights -- remind us of the joys of living in a place with real seasons, all four of them.

The sleeping has been great, with windows open and enough of an edge to the air to make burrowing under a blanket simply delicious.

It's time to give up on those summer-weary annuals in the pots on the front steps and to go in search of pansies and mums and, best of all, pumpkins. The appearance of the odd yellow leaf here and there is an early warning system for the bronzes and golds and reds to come. The scent of new-mown grass will give way to the crunch of leaves underfoot. Rakes and sweaters will reappear in our lives. Popsicles will cede our sweet tooths to candy corn.

There is in the air the promise of a change, the energizing jolt of something ending and something new beginning, the reassurance that the cycle rolls on, through our seasons and years. There is in the air a reminder that it is good to live here in the temperate zone. *